In this seminar held on Wednesday 26th July we hear from Professor Ben Marais on global TB disease burden issues and Dr Frank Beard on the BCG vaccine and evaluation of Australian immunisation programs.

Professor Ben Marais is a paediatrician and paediatric infectious diseases specialist with an interest in global health. He is internationally renowned for his work on childhood and multi drug-resistant (MDR)-tuberculosis (TB). He serves on the executive committee of the NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence in Tuberculosis Control and is a founding member of the Australasian Tuberculosis Forum. He is a strong advocate for Australia to take a leadership role in coordinating enhanced TB and MDR-TB control efforts in the Asia-Pacific region. More broadly, as deputy-Director of the Marie Bashir Institute he works toward creating a dynamic multi-disciplinary research community in infection, immunity and biosecurity.

Dr Frank Beard is a staff specialist public health physician who heads up the coverage, evaluation and surveillance team at NCIRS and has a conjoint academic appointment as Senior Lecturer in the School of Public Health, University of Sydney. He graduated in medicine from the University of Auckland and then worked as a GP in Sydney for 15 years before undertaking his speciality training. After becoming a Fellow of the Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine in 2004, he moved to Queensland and worked for 8 years in the Communicable Diseases Unit. He joined NCIRS in 2013. His main interests are in the epidemiology of vaccine preventable disease and immunisation program evaluation.

We acknowledge that the National Centre for Immunisation Research & Surveillance (NCIRS) is on the land of the traditional owners the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the First Australians, and recognise their culture, history, diversity and their deep connection to the land. Together, through research and partnership, we aim to move to a place of equity for all. NCIRS also acknowledges and pays respect to other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations from which our research, staff and community are drawn.

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Our website meets the criteria for credibility and content as defined by the Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety.

We acknowledge that the National Centre for Immunisation Research & Surveillance (NCIRS) is on the land of the traditional owners the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the First Australians, and recognise their culture, history, diversity and their deep connection to the land. Together, through research and partnership, we aim to move to a place of equity for all. NCIRS also acknowledges and pays respect to other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations from which our research, staff and community are drawn.